Sixers Trending Upward Over The Next Few Seasons
By Ray Boyd
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- ESPN.com has put together a list to measure the power rankings for NBA teams. The interesting thing about this list is that it projects the success of the teams over the next three seasons.
This model gives some perspective on franchises that are building for the future much like the Sixers are doing. According to the list, the Sixers appear to be trending upward.
Each NBA team was given a future power rating on a scale from 0-100. The scale took into consideration the performance of each franchise over the next three seasons based on different criteria.
The areas considered were players, management, money, market, draft. Teams received a rating for each category separately and each made up a certain percentage of their final rating. Players accounted for 50% of the final score. Management and money each accounted for 16.7%. Market and draft both accounted for 8.3%.
The Sixers wound up with a final score of 45.06 which was the league's 19th highest score. While that might sound low, for a team that finished with the league's second worst record last season, it shows an upward trend.
Brett Brown's crew is clearly at a disadvantage when it comes to the current roster which accounted for the highest percentage when calculating the final score. The roster was ranked 25th in the NBA.
The Sixers roster was praised in the rankings for the projected talent that it has in Joel Embiid and Dario Saric.
When combining that with Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel, there is reason to believe that the Sixers could boast one of the league's more talent laden rosters in seasons to come, especially while all four of those players are playing on reasonable contracts.
The Sixers management group led by Sam Hinkie was ranked 19th and they received a rating of 18th for the market category. One could argue that 18th may be a little low.
Where the Sixers were at an advantage was in the draft and money category. The Sixers have made a priority of stacking up draft assets for the future and with the current roster that is assembled, it is safe to assume those picks will remain quite high.
The Sixers received the highest rating for their draft situation and were rated second in the NBA for their money situation behind only the Lakers.
When the Sixers young nucleus of talent develops and all arrive at the Wells Fargo in Sixers jerseys to play a game together, the team will be in prime position to spend and spend big on quality free agents. That flexibility will also aid them in trades.
The immediate future might seem grim for Sixers fans. However, you can take comfort in knowing that there is an upward trend that appears to be taking place.
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